I wanna talk about kpop vocals

What I’ve noticed is pretty uniform in the kpop industry is that soprano and tenor vocal classifications are favored, making it difficult to find idols who’s vocals don’t fit those classifications. So I’m gonna walk y’all through some of my favorite kpop vocals

I’ll start off with the man who inspired this thread, sunyoul of up10tion. He has the most gorgeous countertenor voice I’ve ever heard. On masked singer, everyone thought he was a female idol! He has such a smooth and gentle upper register.

Countertenors essentially are tenors with a much higher and easier to reach falsetto/upper register. Another great example of a countertenor is jimin. They’re a bit more rare but always manage to blow me away.

I wanna switch back and forth between male and female idols so let’s talk about sopranos next! I won’t use descant just bc descant lines are super rare in kpop songs. One of the most talented soprano vocalists is Wendy from red velvet. She can even hit whistle tones!!!

Sopranos are the highest pitched female vocalists. They mostly utilize their head voice (the breathy higher pitched voice) as opposed to their chest voice (louder and fuller lower pitched voice). Here’s Wendy singing RBB

Now let’s move on to tenors!!! Tenors are male vocalists who tend to have a more higher pitched voice. An example of a tenor vocalist in kpop would be youngjae from got7. He has a beautiful upper register that he utilizes quite often in got7’s music.

I think tenors are favored throughout the kpop industry because hearing men hit those higher pitches is more impressive and can also create easier songs to sing (for fans regardless of gender) as well as more impressive high notes.

Next up are mezzo sopranos. These are female vocalists who typically have a very wide vocal range who utilize ever facet of their vocals (head voice, mixed voice, and chest voice). They’re the vocalists more likely to belt higher notes.

I think one of the best examples for a mezzo vocalist in kpop would be miss jo yuri, an absolute vocal powerhouse. She slides so effortlessly between her belt and her lower register chest voice and I mean who’s doing it like this? No one!

Most female kpop vocalists are either sopranos or mezzo sopranos. I think mezzos are slightly more favored just because they utilize their belt more than sopranos and those vocals make for some impressive notes and runs.

Now for baris!! A great baritone in kpop is chanyeol from exo. His voice is lower in tone, which can cause people to believe he’s a bass, but his tone is much brighter than a bass tone. Baritones in kpop create a well rounded vocal line in any group

Baritones and basses get mixed up quite a bit. The differences in tone could be compared to the difference between the sound of a bass drum and a tom drum. Baritones have a brighter and higher tone.

Now let’s talk altos!!! There aren’t many kpop alto vocalists but they add so much depth to a vocal line and also they’re so so so nice to listen to. Because I’m biased my example for an alto vocalist is Jinsoul from loona!

Altos like Jinsoul may not be able to hit notes as high as vocalists like chuu or Wendy, but they have a much different sound and can belt like there’s no tomorrow. Alto harmonies under a mezzo melody are so gorgeous like in oopsy by weki meki’s chorus

And finally lets talk bassists. I’m pretty sure I can count the number of basses in kpop on one hand. They’re extremely rare as higher pitched male voices are more favored. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single vocalist in kpop who’s a true bass.

The closest example to a bass I could find is Felix from stray kids in God’s menu specifically. The first time I listened to it, Felix started rapping and my jaw DROPPED. The man has such a unique tone compared to most if not all kpop vocalists.

This was a fun thread to make if anyone is interested in hearing more about music theory in kpop I’d love to dive more into it!!! Please talk theory with me or reply with your favorite kpop vocalists!!!